News

Congress Funds Government Through 2015: Increases for Department of Interior Programs

2014-12-16

Just before the deadline for the federal government to run out of money, Congress passed a comprehensive spending bill to fund the government through fiscal year (FY) 2015. The measure, H.R. 83 – the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015, provides approximately $1.1 trillion in discretionary spending for federal government programs and operations for FY2015. The House of Representatives passed the measure by a vote of 219-206, while the Senate’s vote was 56-40. President Obama signed the bill into law on December 16, 2014.

The measure includes significant increases in funding for certain Department of Interior programs, including: $2.6 billion for the National Park Service (NPS), an increase of $55 million; Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife received a $13 million increase over 2014 level with $1.086 billion and $1.4 billion respectively. NPS’ funding includes $10 million for the Centennial Challenge to help celebrate NPS’ 100th anniversary in 2016. The Land and Water Conservation Fund remains at 2014 levels at $306 million. Transportation programs under MAP-21, including the Transportation Alternatives Program, remain at 2014 levels. The TIGER program, which is not authorized under MAP-21, received $500 million, about $100 million less than 2014 level.

Below is a breakdown of the FY2015 allocations for the various federal agencies and programs important to ASLA and landscape architects nationwide:

Department of InteriorDepartment of Interior: $10.6 billion, a $244 million increase from FY2014 enacted levelNational Park Service: $2.6 billionLand and Water Conservation Fund: $306 millionU.S. Forest Service: $5 billionUrban and Community Forestry Program: $28 million Bureau of Land Management: $970 million

Other Agencies National Endowment for the Arts: $146 millionNational Endowment for the Humanities: $146 million Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission: $1 million. However, the measure bans construction of a memorial through FY 2015 because of the continuing controversy over the design of the project.